There are plenty of animals that have gained Twitter notoriety. Now we can add a flock of pigeons to the list.
A group of racing pigeons have been equipped with tiny, high-tech pollution sensors and set free around the London area to monitor ozone, volatile compounds and nitrogen dioxide.
The three-day project, called Pigeon Air Patrol, was put together by Plume Labs, a technology company that tracks air pollution and promotes healthier urban living.
And since pigeons that track air pollution wasn’t fancy enough, the company decided that they should Tweet about it, too. So, if you want to know how polluted your area of London is, Tweet your area of London to @PigeonAir and the pigeons will tell you how toxic it is.
“Twitter brings you closer to what matters to you the most, in real time. Over the last 10 years Twitter has been used in ways that we would never have imagined – rivers that Tweet when the water level rises, sharks that Tweet when they’re swimming near shore and now pigeons that Tweet live pollution information. Real time information, direct to your mobile is hugely useful, but add pigeons into that mix and you’ve got something really powerful,” said Helen Lawrence, Head of Creative Agency Development at Twitter.
After the pigeons have retired their pollution-sensing backpacks, which the company says are as light as a feather as not to injure the pigeons, they will retire back to where they came from.
Next, Plume Labs wants humans to do some pollution tracking, though. The company is looking for 100 people to beta test a new pollution sensor, in partnership with Imperial College London. They are recruiting cyclists, runners, or pram pushers, who’d like to know what more about air pollution to test a wearable version of the air pollution device.
Learn more about the pigeons on the mission in the video below.
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